1. Field
The disclosed aspects relate to wireless communication devices, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for providing temporary storage of media file on a wireless communication device for subsequent delivery to another wireless communication device through an automated or manual data delivery re-direction process.
2. Background
Wireless communication devices have become a prevalent means by which majorities of people worldwide have come to communicate. Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. The increase in processing power in wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones has lead to an increase in demands on wireless network transmission systems. As wireless communication device capabilities expand, adaptive capabilities of such wireless communication devices become possible.
Many wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, are currently equipped with the capability to execute, i.e., “play”, media files, such as music files, video files, multimedia files and the like. These media files are typically large in terms of storage size and, thus, if stored locally at the wireless device require an appropriate amount of memory capacity. The need for increased memory capacity becomes more of a concern if the user desires to store multiple media files locally at the wireless device.
While many current high-end wireless communication devices are being marketed with increased memory capacity, upwards of 1 gigabyte (GB) to 60 GB, many lower-end wireless communication devices are not equipped with memory capacity that allows for the storage of numerous media files. These lower-end wireless communication devices still serve a need in the marketplace, especially in developing counties in which the general populous are in need of wireless communication services but are unable to afford high-end devices. Thus, a problem exists related to how to provide media content services to wireless communication devices that have limited storage capacity.
Additionally, regardless of the memory capacity of the wireless device, users of such devices have a tendency to exhaust as much memory as the device provides by acquiring and storing media files. This results in the inability of the device to download or otherwise acquire additional media files without removing some of the existing files from the device's memory. Typically, the user of the device is unaware that the memory capacity is full or close to full until they attempt to download a desired media file and an error message is presented, alerting the user that the download function is prevented from being executed due to limited storage capacity. Unless the user chooses to immediately remove one or more files from the device's memory, the user will be unable to acquire/download the desired media file.
In addition to storage related problems, the wireless downloading of media files can be problematic because of the relatively large size of the files and the inconsistencies evident in the wireless network. If the user attempting to download a media file is located at the periphery of the wireless network coverage boundaries or if the wireless network signal strength is otherwise insufficiently low, the wireless device may be unable to successfully execute the download process. This problem is heightened in low-end wireless communication devices that typically have minimal processing capabilities, minimal power and, thus, are prone to experiencing poor network signal strength problems that leads to disconnections during the prolonged download session. The complexity of the problems is even compounded further when such a device is operating on a legacy network with low data transmission rates.
Therefore, a need exists to develop systems and methods for temporary storage of media files in a wireless communication device. The desired temporary storage should be capable of temporarily storing media files that are requested by a wireless device but are unable to be wirelessly delivered to the device because of insufficient memory capacity or insufficient wireless network signal strength. In addition, the desired temporary storage system should provide for the automatic delivery of the media files from the temporary storage to the requesting wireless device when the memory capacity and/or the network signal strength is sufficient to allow the requesting wireless device to receive and store the media file. In addition, the desired temporary storage system should provide for an easily identifiable temporary storage unit such that the temporary storage unit can readily be assigned to delivery of media files requested by a wireless communication device.